The Trial of River Song
by MuseDePandora
Summary: We know she's guilty, but of what?  Complete
1. Chapter 1

**The Trial of River Song**

by MuseDePandora

Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

Rating: K - T

**Warnings:** maybe for character death, non-explicit violence, darker moral themes, extreme timey-wimeyness. Also, old!Who canon alongside new!Who. Don't need to know old!Who.

Summary: We know she's guilty, but of what?

A/N: There was a challenge. I'll list it at the end of this chapter so that there are no spoilers while you read this piece.

Thanks to Armity for beta-read.

* * *

**Case Identification: 537 SPSC 1102 [123 S.. 953; 154 H. 2d 770]**

**Classification: TOP TIME SECRET**

**Ruling Judges:**

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Defendant: **Doctor River Song

-AKA: Bishop Joan, Servant Wu Zetian, Agent 2606...

-see attached document: _Other Possible Identities of River Song_

**Charges:**

3 Counts: Blasphemy in the First Degree

1 Count: Paradox in the Third Degree

4 Counts: Willful Perversion of Time

1 Count: Willful Destruction of History

2 Counts: Willful Anachronism

10 Counts: Manslaughter

32 counts: Accessory to Murder

1 Count: Accomplice to a Known Enemy of the State

1 Count: Murder in the First Degree

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Testimonial from:** Father Cody Rames

**Interviewer:** Servant Kai

**Witness: **Agent 2401

**Time Stamp:** 99-7-5108/12.32.09

**Servant Kai:** Place your hand on the verifier. Understand that if you remove your hand at any point during this interview, you may be held in contempt of court. Do you understand?

**Father Cody Rames:** Yes, sir.

**SK**: Please, state your full name and rank.

**FCR**: I am Father Cody Rames of the Fifth Arm of Our Church of Supreme Authority, Historical Defense Division.

**Agent 2401:** Verified.

**SK**: Do you know Doctor River Song, Father?

**FCR**: Yes, sir. Though I wish to God, I didn't.

**Agent 2401:** Verified.

**SK**: How do you know River Song?

**FCR**: I was assigned to one of her digs, sir. I mean, my unit was, sir. We were to make sure the site remained secure at all times. Whatever was being dug up was supposed to be real important to the empire, but it involved destroying a huge part of a colony city and, well, you know how the colonies are, sir. We needed to make sure to keep all the guild members safe so that they could do their jobs. Especially Doctor Melian and Doctor Song, since they were in charge of it all.

**SK**: Were you able to keep the site secure?

**FCR**: Completely, sir. My bishop was one of the best, may God rest his soul.

**SK**: Then what happened to Doctor Melian and the rest of the guild members on his team?

**FCR**: River Song happened, sir.

**SK**: Please, explain that further.

**FCR**: Well, you see, everything was fine in the beginning. In fact, it was kind of boring. Me and the rest of the priests were getting a bit antsy even. The colonists weren't too much trouble for us, the Bishop was too good for them. We cut off any trouble before it even happened, so there really wasn't much for us to do but just look at them playing with rocks. They weren't even blowing stuff up anymore. They were just uncovering old pots and computers. They wouldn't even let us get close enough to look. You know how guild members are, they think priests are all just throwbacks with a gun. Well, Doctor Song was better about that than Doctor Melian. Actually, most of us thought she was pretty nice. If she wasn't too busy and we had a question, she'd usually answer and not like we were idiots, neither. Oh, but I guess you didn't need me to tell you all that, did you? You just want to know about when that changed, right?

**SK**: Yes, please.

**FCR**: Well, it started like this, sir. Doctor Melian was all excited one night because of a big discovery. All the guild members were excited. They were breaking out some Earth wine and everything. It was a real big deal, even we could see that. The Bishop explained to us that they had gotten to the center of the crypt. They'd found a big stone box there. Apparently, that's what they had been looking for all along. I told Father Kenneth that I thought it was silly that we all had been waiting so long for a big stone box. The Bishop heard me, of course. It was hard to get anything by the Bishop. We use to joke that it'd take a genuine miracle to surprise the Bishop, but that's just talk. Anyways, as he explained it, there was something in the box, some old technology, a weapon left over from the greatest war ever fought. I asked what it was? And the Bishop says, "We don't know yet. We'll have to wait and see." And I asked what he thought it was and he says, "I don't dare guess, Father. I just hope we don't let the devil out." And then we all laughed. It was just a joke then. But sometimes, I think back on it and I wonder if he'd had a vision. I think he must've.

_(32 seconds of silence)_

**SK**: Please, continue.

**FCR**: Right. After that, there was this man.

**SK**: Can you describe him?

**FCR**: It's hard. He was different. He wore strange clothes. He walked like he owned the place. He just suddenly appeared the morning after the discovery. He looked mostly human, though there was something about his eyes.

_(10 seconds of silence)_

**SK**: Can you describe it?

**FCR**: I mean no offense, sirs, but he reminded me of a Time Agent.

**Agent 2401**: How?

**FCR**: Well, I've worked with agents before, sir. And there's always something a little bit . . . off about them. I think it's because of how they see time. Even River Song and she told us she's only worked with the Time Agency but was never an agent. She never said as much but we all just kind of took it for granted that she must have traveled in time too. There's just something different about people like that. Nothing seems to touch them anymore. It's weird. I don't know how to describe it.

**SK**: That's all right. Can you tell us more about this man?

**FCR**: I can try. He was tall, about my height. He had dark hair, dark eyes. His eyes . . . I tried not look him in the eye as much as possible. He scared me, sir. Which was weird because he was real nice. He smiled a lot. He told lots of jokes. He didn't seem to think he was better than us like most of the guild members, though he was obviously smarter than all of them. Like, one time, he overheard Doctor Melian complaining that he couldn't decipher this one ancient computer system. This man took my comm unit, walked over to the computer, and had it working within a minute. He laughed about how easy it was. Doctor Melian looked mad. Can't blame him. The man was completely taking over the place. Everyone was even taking his orders though none of us knew who he was.

**SK**: How did River Song interact with this man?

**FCR**: Oh, she loved him! She laughed with him. She even made him laugh, and not in the laughing-at-you way. Lots of times, when he laughed, it seemed like it was at something we couldn't understand. But River Song seemed to understand and then sometimes, she could make him laugh almost like a regular person. It seemed like he liked her, too. It was almost impossible to find them apart. My unit used to joke. "There goes the newlyweds," we used to say. I guess that's why so many of us were willing to just accept him at first. We barely knew anything about River Song but we knew she was important, we knew she had connections. We knew even less about this man but he was connected to River Song so that didn't seem as weird as it might otherwise. We just assumed he was a Top Time Secret.

_SK_: In your initial statement, you say that you overheard River Song call him by a name.

**FCR**: Well,it wasn't really a name, sir. It was more of a title. Actually, most of us just thought it was a nickname, like someone would give to their partner, sir. We didn't take it seriously. We thought they were joking, but by the time we realized they were serious, it was too late.

**Agent 2401: **What did River Song call him?

**FCR:** The Master, sir.

**Agent 2401**: Verified.

* * *

TBC

* * *

A/N 2: It started out as a joke. It then became a challenge: the Doctor finds his ex-husband and future wife working together. The Doctor, The Master, and River Song.

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

Thanks to Armity for beta-read.

* * *

**FOR TIME AGENCY REVIEW ONLY**

Security Level: ULTRA

**Released to:** Overseer Gamma

**Authorized:** 1 viewing

_Visual Footage from the Lost Base Archives_

**Interrogation of River Song**

Session: 5

The recorder activates along with the lighting in the room. In the lower right-hand corner, the footage keeps track of the exact coordinates in time and space. The recorder is a hovering device that on activation sweeps the perimeter of the cell. In the bright lights, the extremely large room is exposed in its entirety. There is little more to observe than that it is made completely of metal from floor to ceiling and is nearly empty. It's based off the Agency's preferred design of a psych room: 100'x100'. Past studies have proven smaller cells less efficient with trained detainees. Enclosed spaces still offer a sense of safety, even in hostile circumstances. Empty, unknown spaces have a far more advantageous effect on the human mind. The detainees cannot know the true measures of the room or the number of observers. They are both held and exposed. This is best for the destruction of otherwise strong mental resources.

The periphery lights deactivate in a series of mechanical clicks until a singular space of light remains only in the center of the room. The recorder hovers closer. In the light is a metal table and two chairs.

There is loud sound as if the room had suddenly taken a deep gasp.

In a flash, a tall, blonde human man appears next to the table by vortex manipulator. He is wearing an Old Earth style regimental jacket in red. His eyes scan the darkened room before turning to the recorder. It circles him to observe his every angle before returning to face him directly.

"Agent 1078, reporting for mind-fuck duty, sir!" His accent is modulated to compliment his outfit. The way he mouths his consonants and the blaster on his belt gives away the fact that he is from British Mars.

He salutes the camera, before walking into the darkness. His laughter is dying away in echoes just as the air is disturbed again. Two more agents appear by vortex manipulator with the prisoner. She is in thin prison regulation shorts and sleeveless shirt. The guards lead her to one of the chairs. She sits down of her own volition. She places her arms and feet into position without guidance. Metal restraints snick into place. Both guards check the restraints. They nod to each other, step back, and two gusts echo in the room as they leave.

The coordinates in the right-hand corner of the footage keeps track as forty-two minutes pass. The prisoner sits in her chair and rarely fidgets in place. There is only minor movement as she adjusts her seating or shakes hair out of her eyes or stretches her fingers and toes. Her breath is visible in the air in gray puffs, calm and regular. It is obvious they decided to use cold treatment on her today.

Another gust of disturbed time and space echoes in the room. A dark-haired man appears in a long coat, gloves, and scarf. His boots thump as he walks to the table. The chair scrapes on the floor as he pulls it out and sits. He leans back, throwing his legs up, and crosses his boots on the edge of the table. He smiles broadly at the prisoner. The recorder sweeps to the other side to catch her reaction. She smiles back.

"River Song," he says in a distinct Peninsula accent. "It's an honour to meet you. Really, I'm your biggest fan. Well, second. You have _no idea_ what favors I had to give out to get this assignment."

"Knowing you, Jack," she replies, "I think I can guess."

His eyes widen for only a moment. "Is that reputation, or do I have something to look forward to, gorgeous?"

"A little bit of both."

"Well, I see we don't need to waste time on introductions then. I'm happy enough to go by Jack for this interview, if that makes it easier on you."

"Oh, is this an interview?"

"Of course, it is."

"Silly me," she looks around them, "I thought this was an interrogation in a psych room, using the cold treatment. Personally, I've always found that the mirror maze yields better results with a more efficient use of agency resources. It's also more fun, like a crystal carnival I visited once in the 33rd century. Have you ever been?"

"We've already tried the mirror maze on you, River." He laughs. "It didn't work."

"Well, that's the trouble with interrogating your former interrogators, isn't it? We know all the tricks."

"Not all of them," he says with a fixed smile, "but we hope it won't have to come to that."

"Ah, the threat. Sooner than I would have advised. You've shown your hand too early, handsome." She cocks her head to the side. "You're not an interrogator. Even now. I'm glad, Jack. The man I know would be heartbroken if that was where his agency career had led him. Another man I know would be heartsbroken for you. Not that I would ever tell him. Despite what he thinks, he doesn't need to know everything."

"This other man you are talking about, River . . . Do you mean the Doctor or the Master?"

She smiles. "Yes."

He clenches his jaw.

"You're so young, Jack. You've seen so little death."

"I've seen quite a lot, actually," he replies. "I am a time agent. You know as well as I do what that can mean. Just because I prefer to be kind doesn't mean I can't be brutal. Please, let me be kind, River, and answer my questions."

"If I can."

"What's your relationship with the Doctor?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

He sighs and swings his legs off the table. After a moment of hesitation, he stands up. She watches him with calm eyes. "I really do like you, River Song. I hoped we could work together. Maybe after you've met my partner, you'll be more forthcoming." He steps back from the table and the sound of footsteps in the darkness echo in the room.

"Maybe you aren't asking the right questions, Jack."

He holds up a hand. The footsteps stop.

"Why were you working with the Master?" he asks.

"Because I'd do anything for the Doctor."

"What were you doing?"

She blinks several times and glances at the floor. "That, I can't tell you."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Sorry, I misspoke. I should have said 'won't'."

He takes a long breath through his nose. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Because together we did something so very terrible, so very wrong, that no one should know what happened that day. No one should ever have that knowledge because no good can come from it. No one should ever try to do that again." She pauses and her eyes search his face. "Do you know the best part, Jack?"

"You are not cooperating, River. I can't protect you if you don't cooperate."

The footsteps begin to approach again. They are slow and irregular.

"It's now a paradox," she says. "Somewhen, I am always making that mistake. Before I was born, the very worst thing I will ever do was already happening. Long after I die, I will still be doing that terrible thing. That is my thumbprint on time, my signature. And he knows. He's known since I met him and he still smiles at me. He still loves me. He still forgives me. It happens over and over again in Time. It has to be like a thorn in his mind. But he still chooses to forgive me, over and over again. That remarkable man. I did it for him. And he knows. I know he'll never forgive himself for that. I didn't have to do it, either. Time can be rewritten. I knew what I was doing and I did it anyway."

"Unfortunately, the agency needs facts, River Song," he replies. "Tell us exactly what you did."

"I will never tell," she answers.

"The Doctor will never know if you tell us."

She smiles. "But I will."

"Then we'll never hear your side of the story."

" And I can't say I'm sorry." She shook her head. "Assume the worst. That'll still be better than I deserve. Beyond that, I have nothing more to say to you today."

Agent 1078 walks out of the shadow and leans with a hip against the metal table. "Why don't you let me have a go now, _Jack_?"

"Oh, look," she says. "It's your master."

"I'm sorry, River. I wanted to be kind." He raises his arm, activates his vortex manipulator, and disappears with a bright flash of light.

"River Bloody Song," Agent 1078 looks her over with a grin. He throws his arms out in a grand gesture. "**I **am your biggest fan!"

* * *

_Entered into Evidence: _

**Interrogation of River Song**

Session: 5

_(This transcript has been edited to preserve Empire secrets.)_

**River Song:** _[Redacted]_ Despite what he thinks, he doesn't need to know everything.

**Agent 3099:** This other man you are talking about, River . . . Do you mean the Doctor or the Master?

**RS:** Yes. _[Redacted]_

**A. 3099:** _[Redacted] _Please, let me be kind, River, and answer my questions.

**RS:** If I can.

**A. 3099:** What's your relationship with the Doctor?

**RS: **Wouldn't you like to know. Maybe you aren't asking the right questions.

**A. 3099: **Why were you working with the Master?

**RS:** Because I'd do anything for the Doctor.

**A. 3099:** What were you doing?

**RS: **That, I can't tell you.

**A. 3099:** Why can't you tell me?

**RS:** Sorry, I misspoke. I should have said 'won't'.

**A. 3099: **Why won't you tell me?

**RS:** Because together we did something so very terrible, so very wrong, that no one should know what happened that day. _[Redacted]_ Do you know the best part?

**A. 3099: **You are not cooperating, River. _[Redacted]_

**RS:** It's now a paradox. _[Redacted]_ I knew what I was doing and I did it anyway.

**A. 3099: **Unfortunately, the agency needs facts, River Song. Tell us exactly what you did.

**RS:** I will never tell.

**A. 3099: **The Doctor will never know if you tell us.

**RS:** But I will.

**A. 3099: **_[Redacted]_

**RS: **I can't say I'm sorry. _[Redacted]_ Beyond that, I have nothing more to say to you today.

* * *

**From: ** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**Message Content:**

I am outraged at evidence of Doctor Song's continued lack of regret for her actions. She appears to delight in her deviance and refuses to acknowledge any higher authority than her own whims.

Whatever leniency she might have received from our court by admitting to some measure of her crimes must be augmented by this stubborn refusal to apologize for them. I wish this to be remembered when it comes time to decide upon Doctor Song's sentencing. She shows no interest in softer emotions for those she has harmed. The court should show none for her.

* * *

**From:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To:** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

Agreed.

* * *

**From:** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Overseer Gamme, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

We have yet to decide upon Doctor Song's guilt. It seems premature and even draws into question the objectivity of the court to speak about sentencing before reaching a verdict.

It was a terrible tragedy that The Great Guild lost 32 of its best minds in the events surrounding Doctor Song and the Master. However, I am certain Doctor Holaday would not allow her emotions to interfere with her judgment.

Our duty is not only to punish, but to also seek the truth.

* * *

**From: ** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

Our duty is not only to punish but to protect. The truth is that Doctor Song is a danger of inconceivable proportions. This is not a judgment based upon on unvoiced verdict, but common sense gathered from the trail of crimes and verdicts littering her past. The only reason Doctor Song was enough of a free citizen to be in our court today is because she is an unparalleled genius that the empire thought it could harness to its own ends. Doctor River Song has proven that she cannot be directed or rehabilitated. She can only be contained.

I do not mean to cast doubt on the objectivity of our cout or to suggest that Doctor Song's final verdict has already been reached without viewing all the evidence. I only suggest that the court remember her lack of empathy for her victims. Too many courts in the past have shown her mercy in deference for what services her genius could provide society, that has resulted in her showing no mercy for society in her genius.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

I understand Doctor Holaday's concerns and acknowledge their logical foundation, as well as their emotional. Nevertheless, I must disagree that mercy in the court is ever a failing. It is true that Doctor Song has a background that suggests a strange disregard for the constraints of society or natural order. That does not mean we should demonize her.

I would very much like to see more evidence before deciding for myself the extent of her crimes. In particular, I would like to see a full psychological report on Doctor Song.

Doctor Holaday remarks on Doctor Song's genius, but who is to say that it would not be better termed as madness? I do not think a mortal woman could see the things she has seen, do the things she has done, and come away from those experiences with sanity intact.

Who is to say she is not her own victim? In that case, perhaps we are the only ones who can show mercy and should.

* * *

**From: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

A full psychological report of River Song will be provided.

* * *

**From: ** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

A witness will be provided by the Shadow Proclamation to insure there is no doubt to its authenticity.

* * *

**From:** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

Madness is no apology.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To:** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

Mercy is no sin.

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

A/N: I think there will be only two or three more parts to this story. Also, the mode of punishment discussed in the later part of this chapter is influenced from a similar procedure in Babylon 5.

Thanks to Armity for beta-read.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Personal Log:**

**Doctor Melian**

Time Stamp: 82-26-5107/22.51.34

Hello? . . . Is anyone receiving this? I know our personal logs are still being transmitted to the Great Guild. The Master is making us record and send them every day, like normal. Of course he is, if we break communication, it might raise an alarm. He's not afraid. I don't think he's capable of fear. Certainly not from little creatures like us. Even if all the clergy descended on him right now, I don't think they'd be able to save us. I don't think anything can stop him. However, he obviously doesn't want to be interrupted. He can't be bothered. So we make our recordings every night before bed, wondering if tomorrow will be the day he kills us all. Hoping it will be.

Today, I don't know what came upon me, but I could take it no more. I told the Master that this was cruel and he should at least have the decency to do away with us quickly. This suffering, this horrible knowledge, it's driving us insane. Every day, the physicians are forced to heal those who can't take it anymore and try to end their own lives. Every day, there are more trying.

I expected him to strike me down on the spot. I expected to die. I welcomed it. Instead, the Master laughed and turned to Doctor Song. I remember the conversation so clearly even now. It's ringing between my ears like reverberations from a great drum. I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight from the sheer sound of it.

"What do you think, pet?" he asked her. Pet, he always calls her that. From the very beginning, when he first saw her. It was like he saw through her and decided to keep her. At first I wondered why she allowed it. Doctor Song is not the kind of woman to just accept authority. But now I understand. It's for what's in that box and in his head. She wants it at any cost. We all know that now.

The Master asked her, "Should I put them out of their suffering?"

"Just one more day," Doctor Song said and the Master rolled his eyes before chucking her under the chin with a finger. Like a fond father. Like I do with my daughter. It made me sick.

"She just doesn't want me to undo all her hard work," the Master said to me. His smile twisted into a sort of snarl of disgust, but he quickly hid it back again. But I know what I saw; for a second his true face was revealed. He is in every sense of the word a monster.

"My Scherherazade," he called her and she smiled.

"I would never imagine to outwit you, Master," Doctor Song replied. "After all, we share the same goal."

"And don't you forget it," he told her. "Still, you always beg for one more day for them."

"They're useful," she said. It was the same tone of voice she once used on me on those occasions I lost my temper with the clerics. Calm and always reducing emotion to facts.

Then the Master turned to me and he looked me in the eye until I couldn't take it anymore. I had to look away because his eyes were like poison. I don't know what I saw there but I didn't see a man. I saw a plague and I was afraid I might be infected. I looked in Doctor Song's eyes instead and I tried to focus all my hate there. I didn't say a word, but I imagine she understood it the same. She wouldn't look away from me and I cannot tell whether I think more of her for that or less.

The Master told me, "You're asking the wrong person. If it were up to me, I would have disposed of you all days ago. She's the one who wants to keep you suffering. Personally, I think she gets off on it, the dirty girl. I had planned to kill the whole lot of you a week ago. But you know, we flipped a coin and she won. I promised she'd get to choose when to euthanize you. If you want to die, you should ask her."

So I did. I asked Doctor Song to kill me. I got down on my knees and I begged for my colleague, for my friend, to just let me die. She listened to it all and when I was done, all she said was, "No."

Just . . . no.

I think I actually hate her more than the Master. He's a monster, but she's a human. Somehow, that makes it worse, everything she has done. I don't see the Master as either evil or good. He is a force of nature. I don't think he has any choice in the matter. He cannot help his cruelty. But Doctor Song. She chooses. She understands. I once thought she was a decent person. I thought she was a good person. Now I see, River Song is evil.

So this is what I am reduced to, sending off yet another personal log, knowing that it helps keep this torture going. I have filled my messages with pleas for help for days, but no one's listening, because there is no change in the log schedule to alert the automatic screens. Only when we all stop sending reports will anyone check. Only when we're all dead will anyone read what we have to say. Then it'll be too late.

Still, I can't stop myself from hoping.

Is anyone out there? Is anyone reading this? Please. Help us.

Hello?

* * *

_entered into evidence:_

Excerpt from:

**Interrogation of River Song**

Session: 6

**Agent 3099:** Tell me about Doctor Melian, River.

**River Song:** What do you want to know?

**A. 3099:** Was he a good man?

**RS:** He was a very good man.

**A. 3099:** Why did you kill him?

**RS:** I didn't. The Master did.

**A. 3099:** You chose the time and place. Isn't that the same thing?

**RS:** No. It's much worse.

* * *

_See attached document: Letters from the family and friends of Doctor Melian_

_See attached document: Full Psychological Profile of Doctor River Song_

* * *

**From: ** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**Message Content:**

Any particular thoughts on mercy and demons, father?

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

Always, doctor. Yet, in this case, my mind lingers on one fine but incredibly important point.

* * *

**From:** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, The Shadow Proclamation

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, Our Church of Supreme Authority

Overseer Gamma, The Time Agency

Doctor Holaday, The Great Guild

**Message Content:**

Please, share your thought processes with us, father, so that we might weigh your insights and preserve them here for posterity.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

Gladly, madame. You see, I cannot help but linger on the crucial fact that we still have not been told what actually happened on 82-29-5107. We have not been told how Doctor Song unlocked and reordered Time. We have not been told why she would then go to such trouble to undo it. After all, it ruined everything she worked for. It destroyed the Doctor and the Master. It cost her soul.

I cannot believe she is evil. Though it is obvious she is damned.

* * *

**From:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

The specifics of what happened on 82-29-5107 are a Top Time Secret and must not be disclosed for matters of Empire security. It should be enough that the Time Agency assures you these crimes did take place. We will willingly provide you with testimony, such as that already provided from River Song, detailing Doctor Song's culpability for those crimes.

* * *

**From:** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

Patriarch Thaddeus' concerns are valid. We cannot make an uninformed decision based purely on edited transcripts and emotional letters from a dead man's family. We cannot rely simply on the word of the Time Agency.

Doctor River Song is charged with capital crimes in our shared jurisdictions. If we are to allow her memories to be wiped and her personality rewritten for what she has been accused of doing, we must actually be told what she has done.

* * *

**From:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

There has been a break-through in the interrogation efforts with River Song.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

I cannot help but think the timing a miracle. I must assume it has not been shared with us directly because we are waiting for it to be properly edited, to preserve Empire secrets.

* * *

**From: ** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**Message Content:**

God has answered your prayers, father. The proof you have been waiting for. Speak of the devil.

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

Thanks to Armity for beta-read.

* * *

_Requesting Connection: Agent 3099, Lost Base, time-stamp 16-03-4953/17.20.41 . . . _

_Connecting . . . Please wait._

_Connected._

_Identification and credentials requested._

_Verifying . . . Please wait._

_Verified: Overseer Gamma, The Lemniscate, time stamp 23-11-5108/13.49.54_

_Transmitting._

Agent 3099 is a man with a lot of friends. That isn't a point in his favor. The Time Agency much prefers its operatives to have enemies, if they must nurture any sort of long-term relationship at all. In time travel, relationships get complicated quickly. River Song is an excellent example of this. It's unsurprising to have learned she will have had some relationship with Agent 3099. It is another mark on that man's record. The Agency was already considering reassigning him permanently. Now a full investigation is likely. There are programmers filtering through the records of the Time Agency and its contacts in all other history-keeping branches of the Empire, such as the Great Guild and Torchwood Archives. Their best people are looking for any mention of a 'Jack' in relation to River Song or any of her aliases. So far, they have nothing. Still, the man must be considered compromised.

"Overseer Gamma!" The agent looks nervous, a slight tightening around the eyes. There is no such thing as a man without a tell. Still . . . His smile is perfect. His training is perfect. His very DNA is perfect. It will be such a waste if he has to be erased, as well. River Song has brought nothing but casualties to the Agency. Everything she touches is infected. And to think, she had shown such promise. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"We need a break-through with River Song's interrogation."

That causes a slight pause that can't be explained by the Time-delay in their connection.

"What kind of break-through, sir?" the agent finally asks. It is obvious he knows the answer and is just trying to bide time in order to think up an intelligent way of letting down a superior.

"We need to know what happened on 82-29-5107."

The agent's handsome face perfectly molds itself into a look of regret, distress, and submission. Operatives aren't taught just how to suppress emotion. There is little value in that outside of interrogation. They are also taught how to express the correct emotion. The agent is trying his best to appear regretful and distressed and submissive. There is little telling whether those are his true emotions. It is most likely, but not certain.

"She swore that she would never tell us what happened that day," the agent says.

"River Song is a known liar."

"Yes, sir. But this feels different," the agent continued on. His show of distress is so authentic that it begins to show flaws that shouldn't be there. Frustration. Anger. Weariness. Perhaps his training isn't so perfect after all. "She's willing to talk about almost anything else. We've tried to wear her down. The mirror maze. The cold treatment. The suspension bath. Then there were the truth serums, but she's had the immunizations, sir, so those were only slightly effective. My partner has even tried more . . . classic methods of persuasion. But if we go any further down that road, it'll involve forms of torture that couldn't be hidden from a telepath at sentencing. Even the threat of death isn't going to convince her."

"There has to be something that River Song values above all else."

The agent is shaking his head before he even hears the entire statement. "No. I don't think so. Maybe the Doctor, but my unit has been trying to catch him for years, sir! We've never even gotten close. River Song's made sure of that. I don't think using him as a bargaining chip is a feasible option."

"The blue book."

"What?" the agent asks.

"The blue book. Her diary. That's the key. Use it."

Now, the agent is just confused. He still hasn't worked it out. His intelligence scores are more than adequate though. He will understand soon enough. No reason to spell it out.

"We can't destroy the book. It's so tangled up in Time that any tampering with it could cause a 3rd degree paradox all on its own," the agent says and it is like watching and listening to the thought processes behind his handsome face and blue eyes. "We can't open the diary because it's slightly psychic and has been programed only to open for River Song and can sense if she is being coerced."

"Yes. But what is important about the book."

Then the agent understands. "The memories."

For a moment, it looks like he is going to give another perfect smile. It is like he has divined the answer to a riddle that has kept him up at night. Then he seems to think better of it or, at least, thinks it through more completely. His strong jaw clenches. His lip curls the slightest bit. He is some part disgusted. This is disappointing. It was their hope that transferring him to interrogation duty would harden him up. Instead, his control seems to be weakening. There is a hostility in his eyes when he looks out from the screen. A full investigation into the agent is a certainty. The Agency is on far too fragile standing already to allow for any leniency. Only ten years ago, the Agency would have been able to claim River Song was guilty of a series of unnamed events and every branch of the Empire would have accepted that as enough evidence. Now . . .

"Betray one memory or them all. Surely River Song will make the correct choice. I want a break-through, Agent."

"Yes, sir."

_End Transmission_

_

* * *

_

_Entered into evidence:_

Excerpt from:

**The Interrogation of River Song**

Session: 9

_(This transcript has been edited to preserve Empire secrets.)_

**Agent 3099: **Do you know what will happen to you, River, if you are found guilty?

**River Song:** It matters on who is judging me. You know, there's a planet in the Dunadra system that once had a civilization whose ultimate form of torture was tickling? True, they tore off the first few layers of your skin first, but still. Tickling. Adorning the walls of their ancient court house were 2D holograms depicting it. It's true. I even went back to double-check before submitting my paper.

**A. 3099: **Try to focus on what I'm saying, River. Would you like to know what will happen to you?

**RS: **I'd like to know everything. It's good to have things in common with those you love.

**A. 3099: **Let's talk about who is judging you right now. The Great Guild.

**RS: **Oooh. Who's their representative? One of the chief professors, I'm sure. Is it Doctor Charters? No, she's on paternity leave. Doctor Dahm, perhaps. He should be back from the Chaseus dig. Or . . . don't tell me. Doctor Holaday?

**A. 3099: **Yes. Doctor Holaday.

**RS: **_(laughs)_ Oh, she'll want my head! Death sentence for sure. Good for her. Who else?

**A. 3099: **The Time Agency, of course.

**RS:** Of course. _[Redacted] _

**A. 3099:** _[Redacted]_

**RS: **All these humane procedures on the books _[Redacted]_

**A. 3099:** _[Redacted]_

**RS:** Quite right too, gorgeous. At least Doctor Holaday won't have to plead her case too hard. The Time Agency isn't one to balk at a death sentence.

**A. 3099: **Then there's Our Church of Supreme Authority.

**RS:** Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned . . .

**A. 3099: **Focus, River. Remember what we're talking about.

**RS:** I'm sorry, I seem to be having a difficult time _[Redacted] _Or maybe I'm just tired.

**A. 3099:** We're talking about the consequences if you are found guilty.

**RS:** I've already appeared before the only judge that matters. It killed me. What do I care if someone else wants to finish the job?

**A. 3099: **The last judge is from the Shadow Proclamation.

**RS:** _(pause)_ Oh.

**A. 3099:** You know what that means.

**RS:** No death sentence.

**A. 3099: **No death sentence.

**RS: **Then. . . No. You can't.

**A. 3099: **There's really no other option. If you're convicted of all those crimes, River, it's a memory wipe for you. And even worse, a personality programmer will rebuild you as the perfect civil servant. Everything you are will die but you will still serve the Empire.

**RS:** I don't care about the personality programming, but you can't wipe my memory.

**A. 3099:** Yes, we can.

**RS: **No, you can't!

**A. 3099: **We can and we will.

**RS: **You don't understand, I have to remember! It's important! I _need _to remember! I'd love to forget these last few months, but I can't and I shouldn't. I have no idea what would happen -to him, to me, to you, to all of us- but I know it's not supposed to happen that way. It doesn't happen. I remember. I must always remember. He trusts me to remember!

**A. 3099: **You forget, time can be rewritten.

**RS: **Don't you dare.

**A. 3099: **There is something you can do. You can tell us what you did. Specifically on 82-29-5107. Maybe the court will show you mercy. I'll leave you to think about that.

**RS:** I promised I'd never tell.

**A. 3099: **Maybe you lied.

**RS: **By telling the truth? I'm getting worse than him.

* * *

_see attached document: River Song's Request to the Court for Plea Bargain_

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

A/N: Sorry that it's been an extra week since the last update. I was rather sick and then I ended up writing/posting an Eleven/River AU called Timeless Dreams last week instead. I hoped that since I posted a River/Doctor story still, I might be forgiven. I plan to finish this piece within this next week.

Thanks to Armity for beta-read. Specifically with help getting the point of view correct in the last scene here. Also, thanks to FandomLucky for transcribing how River dictates coordinates in the Angel ep so that I was able to come up with similar coordinates here. My request was on very short notice and she totally delivered. Thanks to both, this chapter has really benefited from their help.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

River Song has been received and secured into the Stormcage facility. Our Church of Supreme Authority acknowledges that the responsibility of her containment has been transferred from the Time Agency to the Church.

* * *

**From:** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

The Shadow Proclamation provides documentation that River Song entered the protection of the Church in prime physical health and that all other material demands of her plea bargain were met, namely the release of her diary into her possession.

* * *

_see attached document: Witness Statement of Servant Kai_

_

* * *

_

**From: ** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**Message Content:**

A great injustice has been done today. I am ashamed that it appears the court has not learned from the mistakes of its past. It seems ironic and gruesomely appropriate that this should be the case when deciding on the trial of River Song. Much like her paradox, it is a mistake that keeps happening over and over. Unlike her paradox, our combined court could have put an end to it.

Throughout the years, River Song has done terrible things, ghastly crimes, and been forgiven for them because she always seemed to have something that we wanted. Usually, it was her intellect. Sometimes, it was information. I am well aware of how it has served the Empire. Many of the monumental discoveries cataloged by the Great Guild within the last hundred years have been spearheaded by Doctor Song. But at what cost? How many have lost their lives or livelihoods because the rules don't apply to River Song? How many more will suffer in the future?

There have to be consequences. There has to be justice.

Even for River Song.

* * *

**From:** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

I am very sorry that Doctor Holaday does not see the necessity of the combined court's decision to plea bargain with Doctor Song. It was in the interest of justice and the memory of those killed by this tragedy that such a deal was made. It was our hope that in solving the mystery of what happened on the Hellades colony on 82-29-5107 that some measure of peace might be granted to their families and loved ones left behind. Only through understanding what happened may we safeguard society from it ever happening again.

Doctor River Song has not escaped judgment. She has pleaded guilty to all charges. In return, the court has promised her immunity from memory-death, but her life has been forfeited to the Empire. She will serve the Empire within the Stormcage, without possibility of parole, for the rest of her natural life, without the option of medical extension. No one has ever escaped the Stormcage. Even now, she is surrounded by the consequences of her actions. Her punishment has begun. Justice has been served.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

Our prayers are with the victims of River Song. The Church will do all within its power to make sure that she never escapes the Stormcage, from now until the hour that God has appointed for her final judgment.

* * *

**From: ** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**Message Content:**

River Song has been sentenced to life imprisonment before. She was pardoned. I have little doubt that she will be pardoned again.

* * *

**From:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

As long as the Time Agency stands, River Song will not be pardoned.

* * *

**From: ** Doctor Dorris Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**Message Content:**

I am sure you will keep your promise, Overseer Gamma. Nevertheless, one must always beware the promise of a time-traveler. What is linear time to you may not be so for me. The Time Agency has a beginning. It logically follows that the Time Agency must also have an ending. If I had a vortex manipulator, I would be able to enter a coordinate and find the day the Time Agency collapses, as every institution must. Does that mean the Time Agency is always ending?

Forgive me, I am an archeologist and because of that must see all of history as ruins in the making. I have no doubt you will keep your promise, overseer. Just as I have no doubt River Song will be pardoned in order to offend society again.

Perhaps this is the consequence of humanity's hubris, presuming to control Time. River Song is proof that Time will always control us. Again and again and again.

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part One

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-21-5108/10.08.33

**Bishop Benedicta:** Please place your hand upon the verifier. Understand that if you remove your hand at any point during this interview, you may be held in contempt of court and your plea-bargain might be invalidated. Do you understand?

**River Song:** Understood.

**BB: **Please state your full name.

**RS: **Which one?

**BB:** Your true name.

**RS: **I don't have a true name . . . But when I pretend to have one, I am Doctor River Song. Most days.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB:** Doctor Song, in your plea bargain, you agreed to release documentation of what happened on the Hellades colony on 82-29-5107.

**RS:** I did.

**BB: **Where is this documentation?

**RS:** I have a house in 19th century England. Earth. It's in a city named Oxford. The street address is 253 Burnings Way. I own it under the name Mr. John Smith though the housekeeper knows me as his widow, Mary. Tell her I sent you. Oh, and make sure you have some of her biscuits. They're delicious.

**BB: **Can you be more specific or must we search the entire house? What are we searching for, precisely?

**RS: **Up the stairs, first door on your left, there is a bedroom. In that bedroom is a bed. One of its posts is hallow. Inside you will find a fifty-second century data crystal.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB:** Is the data crystal encrypted?

**RS: **_(laughs)_ Of course.

**BB:** How do we decrypt it?

**RS:** I will write you a program.

**BB:** How do we know that you won't destroy evidence or create a virus that will infect the systems viewing the evidence?

**RS: **Bishop, what is my hand sitting on?

**BB:** Ah. River Song, will the program you create do anything else but decrypt the information on the data crystal found in 253 Burnings Way?

**RS:** No.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB:** I repeat, your program will only decrypt the evidence stored on that data crystal?

**RS:** Yes.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB:** Is there any other evidence you wish to surrender to the court?

**RS:** No, that is all the evidence I have to surrender.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB: **I repeat, that is all the evidence in your possession?

**RS: **That is all the evidence I have to surrender.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

* * *

**From:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

The Time Agency has retrieved the data crystal from 253 Burnings Way. The encrypted data will be entered into evidence as soon as the Church transmits River Song's decryption program to the Time Agency.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

The specific wording of River Song's plea bargain reads thus: _In exchange for the court's mercy, all evidence both verbal and material will be surrendered to Our Church of Supreme Authority in order that it may be heard by the court._

The court has spoken. The encrypted data will be submitted into evidence as soon as the Time Agency transfers the data crystal into the Church's possession.

* * *

**From:** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To:** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

The Shadow Proclamation will provide a witness to accompany the data crystal's journey from the Lemniscate to the Church.

* * *

**From:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

The data crystal from 253 Burnings Way has begun its travel to the Church. We can only hope that it does not fall into the wrong hands upon the way. I wish it noted by the court that I find this extremely inadvisable for Empire security.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

The data crystal from 253 Burnings Way has entered possession of the Church intact. This is particularly gratifying as there was an instance of attempted piracy in transit and Doctor Song believes there was also an attempt to copy the data crystal. Thank God neither attempts were successful. Also, our thanks must go out to the Shadow Proclamation for providing a witness to accompany the evidence. Without her quick thinking and dedication, Overseer Gamma's premonition might have come true.

* * *

_entered into evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Visual File 1

The recording begins.

On the screen, River Song sits in a chair at the end of a dining table. Behind her, two gas lamps flicker in the dark room. It makes the hunter-green, striped wall paper expand and withdraw with every flash of light and shadow. The eye and lens see it as if the walls are breathing behind River Song's back. From the architecture of the house and specifically the room around her - real wood floors, manual doors, and most importantly the date of the newspaper sitting on the serving board- this must be 253 Burnings Way, 19th century Oxford, England, Earth.

River Song is out of place.

It's most obvious in her clothing. She is only visible to the camera from the waist up but that fabric is most certainly not of Earth origin. She should know better. If even a scrap of it were left behind by accident, it could pollute the time stream.

That would be enough evidence for one count willful anachronism and one count willful perversion of Time. Of course, the data crystal and recording device were also not of 19th century Earth origin. The threat posed by their use was surely immense. Make that two counts. Each.

River Song doesn't even look at the camera. There must be an old fashioned clock somewhere in the house, large enough to reverberate in the silence. The ticking marks ten seconds, then fifteen, then twenty. At first, it appears that she is stuck in time and it is only the house moving around her, but this is an illusion. Her chin rests on her chest, her hair falling forward and obstructing even this limited view of her face. It takes awhile to notice but this pause on her part encourages a closer inspection.

She's shaking.

It's difficult to tell because of the flicker of the lamplight and the overwhelming darkness in the room, but River Song is shaking. It's only the finest of trembles yet it is hard to believe. This woman is supposed to be fearless, dauntless, and in a word unshakable.

She takes a deep breath and the walls exhale behind her. She lifts her head and looks straight into the camera. There are cuts on her face. Mostly on her left cheek but there is one gash perilously close to her right eye. There are bruises on her throat, just beneath her jaw line. It looks like the shadows have wrapped their fingers around her neck. Her anachronistic shirt reveals more bruises and cuts on her arms. There's a bloody hand print on her chest, just over her heart, and it is too big to be her own.

"Doctor," she says in an adamantine voice. It is difficult to connect the sure sound of it to the brittle woman moving her mouth. Still, it is more River Song than her face in that moment. It is the sound of a woman who has made a decision and is going to follow through with it, come what may. Doctor Holaday is wrong. It's not that consequences don't apply to River Song; it's just that she's too willing to endure them.

"Sweetie," she amends after a moment. River tries on a smile but can't make it fit. She clears her throat instead. "Remember the time I accidentally on purpose sold you to the Judoon?" She squints her eyes at the camera, as if she can see the viewer through the screen. "Well, maybe not. Don't worry, you forgive me . . . You always forgive me."

She leans forward, clasping her hands on the tabletop. There's something dark under her fingernails.

"Forgive me for this," River begs. "Not for what I've done with the Master. You forgave me for that years ago, before I had ever even heard of him. I wonder. That time you accidentally mentioned him to me was that a test? Was it to see how close I was to Hellades? Or did you ask me because I'm telling you right now that you ask me? I hope so, because that means maybe there's some hope.

"I hope you find this sometime after the Pandorica, but before the Culling Shores. I need your help and not just any you will do." She pauses and bites her lip, as if wondering how much to tell. "I've done something terrible . . . And I'm going to ask you to do something that you won't want to do. But when you hear what I've done, you'll understand why. I know you, Doctor. You'll need even more convincing. That's why I've included these visual files. Watch them. Then you'll see it's the right thing to do."

She squares her shoulders and places her palms flat on the table. "I need you to go to three, double nine, two, slash, six, four, one by ten, zero, eleven, slash, acorn. I'll be there because it's already happened to me. You'll be there too because whether you go now or not, it will someday happen to you. Twice. You see, I called for help and you came, like you always do. It was a trick. We needed you to make the key work. But then it went wrong. So I had to call you again, a different you. I didn't know Time Locks worked that way. The Master told me it was simple but now that I think about it, if it were so simple why wouldn't you have done it years ago? I'm so sorry, my love, but I just wanted to give your people and family back to you. I thought you simply weren't willing to sacrifice any innocents, even a hundred for a billion. I was willing to do it for you.

"I didn't know the Time Lock had already been opened before. Neither did the Master, since that version of him had been sealed away by the Daleks since before the Time War. You can guess what happened when we opened it again.

"The whole thing fell apart." River Song shakes her head like she's still trying to deny it happened. "We destroyed Gallifrey. In the blink of an eye a whole, burning world ripped and tore into oblivion above our heads. I thought the problem was that Time Locks were so very strong. I didn't realize the real problem was that they are so very delicate. One wrong twist and you puncture a hole in space-time. I once said that there was nothing more terrible than looking into the heart of a black hole. Now I know why you laughed at me."

She holds up a hand to the camera and there is something dark in the creases of her palms. It's like she has tried to wipe her hands clean in a hurry but done a poor job. It's the same color as the hand print over her heart.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you. Oh no, I never meant to hurt you, darling. Please, believe me. I'm telling you this because I hope that if I get a version of you from before you come to my aid, you might be able to stop me. I know we can't avoid a paradox now. It's too late for that. Instead, I hope we might exchange one paradox for another. If it's between sacrificing me or you, I'll always pick me."

Suddenly, she smiles. "I can imagine the face you're making right now." The smiles twists into hard lines again. "There's no other way, Doctor. Please, sweetie, if you care for me at all, do this one thing for me."

She pauses and stares through the screen. The next moment, she leans even closer, extending her arm on the table until her hand disappears behind the camera. She is a tableau of desperation and surrender, because there is no hiding like this. There are only cuts and bruises and shadows focused around her blue eyes and her body reaching out for something unrecorded.

"Find me and kill me, my love," River Song whispers like a prayer, "because otherwise, for all eternity, you will die and how could I live with that?" She rests her temple on her extended arm and smiles for a lover.

The recording ends.

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

**A/N:** I know I said that I would post it all when finished. It's taking longer than I planned, both because real life refuses to understand fandom comes first and because the plotting of this ending was more complicated than I expected. I thought I'd wait until I had it all, but my beta said she thought I should update on my regular day and just quote River Song. Meaning, "I lied." I have ch. 7 finished and waiting. I'm halfway done with ch. 8. I am now tentatively promising this as 9 parts. As soon as I'm done with ch. 8, I will post ch. 7. Thank you, for your patience.

**Warnings:** This story is not only going to be very time-whimey. It's also going to have very dark fic moments.

Thanks to Armity for beta-read.

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

_Excerpt of:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part Two

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-28-5108/07.31.21

**Bishop Benedicta: **The data crystal from 253 Burnings Way was meant to be a message to the Doctor?

**River Song: **Yes.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB:** How did you think the Doctor would find it?

**RS:** He's the Doctor.

**BB:** Explain.

**RS: **At some point, someone would find that data crystal in England. Then Torchwood would find them. Torchwood and the Doctor have a . . complicated relationship. I encrypted that first file to open for two individuals. The Doctor and a mutual friend in Torchwood. It seemed like a good gamble that the crystal would find its way to the Doctor eventually.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB: **Why leave the message?

**RS:** I thought that obvious.

**BB:** Please answer the question, Doctor Song.

**RS:** I hoped the Doctor could fix my mistake.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB:** So that you could avoid the Stormcage?

**RS:** _(laughs) _In a manner of speaking.

**BB:** You're confusing the verifier, Doctor Song. Please be more direct in your answers.

**RS:** Please be more direct in your questions.

**BB: **Why do you think the Doctor would be able to fix the Hellades incident when he failed twice before?

**RS: **That data crystal isn't about thinking, bishop. It's about hoping.

**BB: **Is there any hope, then, that the Doctor will answer your request?

**RS: **No.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB: **Why not?

**RS: **Because Time can be rewritten.

**BB:** What does that mean?

**RS:** It means that I keep waiting for new memories but they never come. I keep waiting to die on some world millennia in the future and years in my past. But instead, I'm here. That means either the Doctor can't fix Hellades or he won't.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB: **Why wouldn't he?

**RS: **Because he's always had a bit of a death wish. Or a martyr complex. Sometimes, it's difficult to tell the difference.

**BB:** What's the Pandorica?

**RS:** I don't know.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB:** You mentioned the Pandorica in the file.

**RS: **It hasn't happened for me yet.

**BB: **Then how did you know you wanted a Doctor from between the Pandorica and the Culling Shores?

**RS: **The hazards and benefits of a nonlinear relationship. In order to place each other, sometimes spoilers slip out. I know he doesn't know who I am before the Pandorica. I also know the Culling Shores was the last time he saw me before he answered my call and helped seal a later version of himself into the Time Lock. I needed an earlier Doctor who knew me. For us, setting a date is both a science and an art.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**RS:** Why is the Church so interested in the Doctor?

**BB: **We are simply attempting to provide as full an account as possible to the court about what happened on Hellades.

**RS:** Strange then that you haven't actually asked about Hellades.

**BB: **The court is reviewing those files now.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Visual File 2

It's the inside of a large cavern. Everything and everyone within is bathed in a silvery white light from a suspended gravity globe. Tiles cover the walls in an ancient, alien hieroglyph left over from the lost civilization of Hellades. No one is paying attention to the hieroglyphs. Instead, the whole room's focus is on a large, stone box sitting in the center of the chamber. The recorder circles the room to take in all the angles. The box is an absolute perfect square, down to the most minuscule of measurements. For a few moments, a young man in the green jacket of a Great Guild intern is visible manipulating the controller for the hovering recorder. For most of the next few seconds, the stone box fills the recorder's vision. The sides are completely smooth, so naturally unblemished that it must be unnatural. It's impossible to tell what might be inside or even how one might open it to see.

"How do we open it?" Doctor Melian's voice asks. It is barely recognizable as the same man from the personal logs archived by the Great Guild. He sounds overjoyed, awed, and a little bit annoyed.

"Maybe we should knock," River Song's voice replies.

The recorder turns the corner of the massive box and captures Doctor Melian giving River Song an exasperated but fond glance. She is too consumed with the puzzle in front of them to notice. There are at least seven other archeologists and their interns lingering around the periphery of the room staring at the box. Their excited whispers and exclamations bounce off the tiled walls until it seems like there are at least a hundred people inside.

There is a loud POP and cheer.

"What was _that_?" River Song demands and the room falls quiet. The whispers aren't extinguished completely but there is a respectful lull. The recorder hovers to capture the scene. Another archeologist, identified as Doctor Gajra Tatat by the Great Guild, holds up a green bottle.

"Earth win, Doctor Song," she explains. "We should celebrate, yes?"

"No," River replies. "You're contaminating the site."

"But the room has already been mapped by the droids," Doctor Tatat says.

"We're contaminating the scene just as much by standing here and talking, River," Doctor Melian adds. "Let them have their wine."

"Take it outside."

"Doctor Song," he argues.

"This box has Time traces all over it, Doctor Melian," River Song says in a calm tone, but there is a bite underneath it. Doctor Tatat is already replacing the cork into the bottle. The room falls completely quiet now. "Under the authority of the Time Agency with agreement from the Great Guild, I am to take lead in the event of Time artifacts. I am now in charge."

Doctor Melian and River Song stare into each other's faces for several long seconds of silence. Finally, Doctor Melian nods. River Song nods back, claps her hands together, and turns to the rest of their audience with a wide smile.

"So. You're right, Doctor Tatat, this is certainly a time to celebrate." She points toward the only corridor opening in the crypt. "Outside. Everyone who isn't Doctor Melian or myself, leave the site immediately. I've arranged for catering to have real food transported in just for the occasion."

The room erupts into excitement again.

"Yes, real food!" Doctor Song repeats with a laugh. "Go! Enjoy yourselves! Doctor Melian and I will join you shortly."

There is some lingering around the room by a couple of archeologists and a few interns but within a minute, the room is emptied.

"Doctor Song," Doctor Melian begins in a tight voice. She holds up a hand to stop him and turns to look at the recording device.

"George," she says, "you better go too if you want any chance at a piece of cake. I'll take care of the recorder." She holds out a hand.

"But closed circuit cams haven't been set up in the room yet and protocols, Doctor-," his voice replies from somewhere behind the camera.

"Oh, sod protocols," River says. "It's a celebration. We can bend the rules a little bit, yeah? And Doctor Melian and I aren't about to make any major discovery. We're just going to have a little talk." She smiles. "In private. You understand."

Doctor Melian cocks his head and watches River from the corner of his eyes. There is a pause before the intern answers.

"Right, Doctor." He steps forward into view of the camera and hands River Song the controller. She pats him on the shoulder.

"Enjoy yourself, George. You work too hard."

"Thanks, Doctor," he replies. With several backward glances, he exits the room.

"Doctor Song!" Doctor Melian objects as soon as the young man is gone. "What in sanity's name do you think you're doing!"

River Song looks straight into the camera, raises the controller in her hand, and the recording ends.

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

_Excerpt of:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part Two

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-28-5108/07.47.59

**Bishop Benedicta:** When did you realize the Master was inside the Time artifact?

**River Song:** From the beginning.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB**: How?

**RS**: The Doctor is very careful in what he lets slip. That's not just to protect the time stream. It's also because he knows I can't resist a mystery. He mentioned the Master once and I made a study of the name throughout history. I wasn't too surprised to find out that where there was the Master, there was the Doctor. I could read between the lines. Oh, the way the Doctor said his name. After meeting the Master, I can see why.

**BB**: How does that relate to finding the Master?

**RS**: The Time War was never completely erased in the Time Lock. There were shadows and whispers, fingerprints left on a million worlds. The Master was one of those. I could never find anything definite; where the Master goes, destruction tends to follow. It's amazing anything survived him, even his own name.

**BB**: Then how did you know about the artifact?

**RS**: I met a Dalek.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB**: And it just told you about the Master?

**RS**: After a fashion.

**BB**: Explain.

**RS**: The Master allied himself with the Daleks once. He underestimated them. They took a sample of his genetic code, a digital imprint of his personality and memory signature, and archived it for future use as a weapon. In the Time War, Gallifrey thought the Master would make the perfect warrior. Apparently, the Daleks agreed. They created their own version of the Master just in case and sealed him away in a stone prison outside of Time itself. Their hidden, secret weapon. The prison survived even the Time Lock.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB**: How do you know all this?

**RS**: I love the Doctor and the Time War broke him a little. He has never really healed from it. I took that personally. The Time War hurt him. I'm the only one allowed to do that.

**BB**: So you studied the Time War?

**RS**: _(laughs)_ To put it mildly.

**BB**: What did you find?

**RS**: Many things. All you need to know is that I found the Master. When are you going to start asking about Hellades?

**BB**: We're getting to it.

**RS:** Ah, good. You were starting to sound like the Time Agency. They're always so obsessed with Time Lord technology. I'm glad the Church is above all that.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Audio File 1

The recording begins. The sounds are muffled as if the device is hidden beneath a pillow or inside someone's pocket.

"Yes, that's a genius plan, Master," River Song's voice says, "but where are we going to harvest that amount of Time energy?"

"Are you always so oblivious, pet?" a man's voice replies. This must be the Master. The Torchwood archives provided several suspected recordings of the Master's voice throughout his incarnations. This matches the oldest one of them. "We have a herd wasting a vast reservoir of Time energy all around us."

"What do you mean?"

"Time energy is in all of us. It's not just in Time Lords or time travelers. Though, ours is of a greater quality. No, it is in everything. Even the little minions scampering around outside dusting off old hard drives and playing football with dead gravity globes."

"How do we access it?"

"There is a species called the Weeping Angels," the Master says, "they perfected the art. In fact, they live off it. The Time Lords have always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Angels. We're fascinated by them and terrified of them. The Rani once invented a technology that did the same thing, took a person and sapped them of their Time energy. Of course, her method drove the subject insane and often lead to death, but it had the same results."

"Insane?" River asks.

"Yes, the Angels displace their victims in Time and gather up the left-over energy," the Master replies. "The Rani's system uses the subjects as conduits. Time energy runs through them into the machine."

"They become a battery."

"Essentially."

"And all that Time energy running through their heads drives them insane." River Song's voice is so low and quiet it is almost lost to the recording.

"The subjects reported having the most vivid night terrors." The Master's voice is silky and precisely articulated. It sounds as if he were some professor noting a scientific oddity to his class. "Some of them even suffered psychosomatic wounds."

"How many die?"

"Oh, hmm . . ." The Master pauses in thought. "A little over thirty percent? Of course, that includes suicides and those the Rani felt the need to euthanize for their own good."

"How many would we need to create a key?"

"We'll need them all," he tells her. "Is that a problem, my dear?"

There are four seconds of silence.

"No," River Song answers. "Not for me."

"We're going to need the Doctor soon," the Master says. "Shall I call him or shall you?"

The recording ends.

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

_Excerpt of:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part Three

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-28-5108/07.59.02

**Bishop Benedicta:** What are the Weeping Angels?

**River Song:** Exactly what the Master said. They are an ancient race that feeds off the Time energy of other creatures.

**BB:** Do they still exist?

**RS**: I imagine so.

**BB**: What threat do they pose to the Empire and the Church?

**RS**: I suppose that'd matter on whether they still exist or not.

**BB**: You don't know?

**RS:** No, but I could find out, if the Church is so interested.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB:** Let's return our focus to Hellades.

**RS: **Where were we?

**BB: **The Doctor.

**RS:** Oh yes. My first Doctor. The last Doctor.

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

A/N2: Yes, this story is supposed to involve clone!DelgadoMaster.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

A/N: Yes, not only have I finished ch. 8, and thus am posting ch.7, but I have also finished ch.9 and thus the whole story! What a relief! I want to have at least a day to look over and make any final touches to ch.8 and 9. But I will be posting those two together (and thus finishing) either tomorrow night or Thursday morning.

Thanks to Armity for help with fleshing out the extreme timey-wimeyness and reading several version that didn't make it into the final.

* * *

**From: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

In River Song's plea bargain, she promised detailed information about what happened on 82-29-5107. We have received melodramatic messages to an enemy of the empire and vague allusions to some imaginary threat. It is very suspect that River Song demanded to be released into Church care and within days has them eating out of her hands while she tells them tales about Weeping _Angels_. Just because the Church can be so easily distracted and manipulated by their own doctrine doesn't mean the rest of us can be. River Song has invalidated her plea bargain.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

I have been told patience is a virtue, overseer. I have also been told a wise story about stones and glass houses. Please, be kind and remember the constraints put on the Church in transporting this material to three other agencies with their own separate media systems, each with individual translation technological needs, and that is not to mention the difficulties we all must submit to when matters of Empire security demands such guarded transport across galaxies and occasionally in your case, across decades. The Church endeavors, as always, to fulfill its duties with the utmost reverence and alacrity.

* * *

**From: ** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

At this point, there is no basis to the suggestion that River Song has invalidated her plea-bargain. Patriarch Thaddeus makes a valid case when he lists the myriad of reasons why the testimonial of River Song as well as the files from the Burnings Way data crystal must be broken up and transmitted in short bursts. There is no reason to believe the Church is not executing its duties sufficiently.

* * *

**From: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

This is not the type of information the Time Agency was promised when we agreed to this plea bargain. There is nothing revealed in these files of any use to the Empire. River Song is not telling us anything that we do not already know.

* * *

**From: ** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

That is unfortunate for the Time Agency. The only type of information River Song promised to reveal in the plea bargain was all within her possession pertaining to what happened on 82-29-5107 on the Hellades colony. That is being provided. If expecting a different type of information, the Time Agency should have had it in documentation. The Time Agency's complaints are unfounded.

* * *

**From: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

I promised Doctor Holaday that River Song would not manipulate the court to her own ends. I am only doing all within my power to keep that promise.

* * *

**From:** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

I appreciate that, overseer. However, unlike you, I do see value in these files. The fact that you do not disturbs me. Now that I have seen them, I want to see more.

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

_Excerpt of:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part Four

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-28-5108/08.05.53

**Bishop Benedicta**: How did you contact the Doctor?

**River Song:** I left him a message at the end of the universe.

**BB: **How?

**RS:** There is a rock in the darkness called Utopia. I scratched directions in the dirt.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB:** How did you know he'd see it?

**RS:** The Doctor never revisits his victories. He always remembers his failures.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Visual File 3

The angle of the camera is high in the clearing between several tents, suggesting this file is from the original system of recording devices spread across the camp and archeological site. It had been a bit of a mystery when the investigation first began that these units had been left completely intact. There had been hope that they would have recorded what had happened during the Hellades incident. Unfortunately, all recordings had disappeared. This answers the question of where some of them went.

Though it is the height of the day and the sun is shining yellow hot on everything it touches, not a single person is visible. It is like the camp is already dead. According to the time stamp in the bottom right hand corner of the recording, it's likely that many of them are.

This is 82-29-5107 on the Hellades colony.

A wheezing sound disturbs the silence, building from a whisper into a whipping of the wind through the tents and settling into the solid shape of a blue box in the center of the clearing. The sound stops. The door to the blue police box opens and a man steps out onto the dirt.

He is tall but not especially so. He is neither young nor old. He has dark hair but light eyes. His clothing is strange, a mixture of garments from old Earth, a purple jacket with a black cotton shirt underneath, tight trousers, shiny dress shoes and a grey fedora.

"River!" he calls out in a deep voice with the same accent as Doctor Song. There is no answer. "Can't ever make it easy on me, can you?" he mutters to himself. He closes the door of the police box behind him.

"I only make it easy for people I hate," River says as she opens one of the tents and steps out.

"River," he greets, opening his arms with a smile.

"Hello, sweetie." She walks into his embrace and wraps her arms around his neck. He lifts her off the ground and she laughs. After a few moments, he sets her back on the ground and pulls back to look at her. His hands linger on her hips and his thumbs caress her waist while his eyes scan over her face.

"You look terrible," the Doctor announces.

"It's nice to see you too, dear."

"No, you're beautiful but, really, you look horrible," he replies. The Doctor turns his head from left to right and seems to realize how quiet the camp is around them. "What's wrong? Where is everyone?"

"I'm so sorry," River says and the Doctor's head whips back to focus on her.

"What did you do?" he demands.

"What you wouldn't."

The Doctor stares at her and the recorder captures how his face loses almost all animation. He doesn't look angry or upset. His eyes look sad and tired. "You wrote my name in the ash of Utopia. You've been studying the Master."

"I have," she admits.

"I told you not to."

"I know," River says, nodding her head. "I did it anyway."

"And?" the Doctor asks. "What did you find?"

River Song smiles into his face and takes his hand. The Doctor studies her eyes and lets her twine their fingers together. "He says he misses you terribly."

The Doctor stumbles back a step but doesn't let go of her hand. He opens his mouth mutely, closes it.

"You found the Master?" he whispers.

"Yes."

The Doctor shakes his head and steps back into her space. "You can't trust him," he urgently tells her.

"Funny," River replies, raising a hand to the Doctor's cheek, "he said the same thing about you."

He doesn't seem to know how to respond to that.

"You said you needed my help," he finally says.

"We do," she replies. "And I'm sorry but you're going to hate us a little bit. I know I do."

The recording ends.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Visual File 4

This is another closed circuit camera, positioned outside of the digging site. According to the time stamp on the bottom corner, five minutes have passed since the Doctor's arrival. There are thick electrical cables running out of the mouth of the underground crypt like lolling tongues. In rows to the right and left of the crypt entrance, bodies lay on the dirt ground. Some are wearing Church camouflage, others are wearing the blue tunics of the medical unit, there are a few wearing the white bodysuits of the catering team, more are wearing the green jackets for the Great Guild interns, then there are those in civilian garments, such as Doctor Tatat and Doctor Melian who are both in frame closest to the entrance.

In the middle of them all, right in the center of the camera's focus, there is a machine that looks to be an amalgamation of 52nd century Empire technology and ancient Hellades technological artifacts. It is built into a semi-circle with the opening away from the crypt entrance. The controls on top of the machine are easily accessible to the Master as he stands inside of it, flicking switches and pressing buttons with zeal.

River Song leads the Doctor into the scene by his hand.

"Welcome to the party, Doctor," the Master greets. "So glad you could make it. River and I have been working very hard on your present. What do you think?" He makes a grand, sweeping gesture with his arm towards everything laid out in the picture. The Doctor's eyes flicker in a second from the Master to the bodies to the machine and the cables leading into the mouth of the crypt. He chooses to focus on the bodies.

The Doctor lets go of River's hand and dashes to the nearest subject.

"How predictable," the Master remarks with disgust and a roll of his eyes.

The Doctor crouches down and pulls out a silver, cylindrical device, identified as a sonic screwdriver by the Torchwood archives. He scans it over the bodies, studies the side of it, and closes his eyes for a long moment. When the Doctor opens his eyes, he fixes his gaze directly on Doctor Song. "Oh, _River_," he sighs and sounds heartbroken.

She stands in the middle of it all and doesn't shy away from any of it, even the Doctor's disappointment. "I know."

"How does it feel, Doctor?" the Master asks. "One of your precious companions - a favourite- turning to mass murder because of love? Oh, the things we do for you."

"Most of them will survive," River argues. "It had to be done, for the greater good."

"For the greater good." The Master laughs. "Do you hear her? Oh, she's definitely one of yours. A true believer, too. She reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger, on Gallifrey. Do you remember, Doctor? When we were both still at the Academy and dreamed of change, the one great crime of the Time Lords. Weren't we quaint?"

"Master," the Doctor says and sounds resigned. "How did you survive this time?"

"Daleks."

"Oh, are they around?" The Doctor turns in place several times as if to see. He finally focuses back on the Master and the machine. "What's that?" the Doctor asks. He rushes over to the machine and pushes the Master out of his way. He examines the controls with growing panic. "What are you trying to do? This is hooked up to a temporal matrix. What are you using, a vortex manipulator and some gum? What do you hope to do with that? Well, something big if these readings are anything to go by. Where are you getting the power?" He pauses a moment and glances over the bodies. "The Rani," he whispers.

The Master leans over the edge of the Machine, into the Doctor's space. "Do you see yet, my dear Doctor? Soon you'll forget all about those little creatures in the dirt. Turn your eyes heavenward and you'll see the remaking of the world."

River approaches to stand beside the Master. The Doctor looks between them and swallows.

"Hate me if you need to, Doctor," she says. "You've hated me before. But I love you. You've saved my world thousands of times. It's about time I returned the favor."

"What are you trying to do?" His voice is hard and directed at the Master but his eyes keep flicking to River Song.

"Oh no, I shan't take credit," the Master objects with a laugh. He waves a hand toward River. "This is all your darling River's idea. Go on, River, tell the Doctor what we're going to do."

The Doctor turns his attention to River Song. She pauses only a moment. "We're unraveling the Time Lock."

"River," the Doctor says, shaking his head.

"No! Listen to me, Doctor." She reaches across the machine and grabs his hand. "The Daleks survived the Time War."

"They always survive."

"I know, but you sacrificed your people -your family!- to rid the universe of the Daleks," River says. "The Daleks remain without any great civilization to hold them in check."

"I hold them in check!"

"You can't do it on your own, sweetie!" River holds onto his hand when he tries to pull back. "You shouldn't have to and you can't. One terrible day, it'll be too much for even you. You're not immortal. Then what will happen to the universe? I did it for you because you sacrifice too much, but I also did it for everyone else, because we can't rely on you forever. That's why I did this! That's why I've sacrificed all these people! It's to save them."

The Doctor presses his lips into a thin line, but when he speaks, it's not to her. "And you, Master," he says, while absently rubbing his thumb over River's knuckle. "What's your agenda?"

"Who says I don't share her reasons?" the Master asks.

"I do," the Doctor replies. "I know you, Master."

The Master steps back from the machine and tugs at the sleeves of his jacket. "I was made for the Time War." He glances up and the Doctor looks physically struck by the look in the Master's eyes. "It's in my bones and blood. I remember a time before it, but it's like a dream. Those memories aren't mine and don't feel real. Even you, Doctor. I remember you. I remember us. Sometimes, it's all I can think about, but it's always there in the shadows of my mind, waiting. The Time War. The greatest battle of creation. The Time War never ended, my dear Doctor. It's been waiting, for me. It's my destiny and all the stars will cower before my rage."

The Doctor and River Song stare at the Master; he with despair and she with dawning horror. She cannot step away from the Master fast enough. The Doctor rushes around the machine to take the Master by his arms and shake him.

"You can be more than that!" the Doctor tells him. "You can be so much more if you'd only let me help you! Please, listen."

The Master stares into the Doctor's eyes and seems to consider. "No," he says, "I can't."

He moves with a sudden violent motion and the Doctor gasps, a simple, soft, "Oh."

The position of the camera is such that the Doctor's back is to the camera, his expression hidden. He still clasps the arms of the Master, who holds him back, almost in an embrace. Behind the Master, River Song stands surrounded by her sacrifices and completely alone. The Master's face looks pained but also exhilarated, his eyes oddly dull and sharp like a madman. River Song looks like she's been stabbed through the heart, one hand grabs her own chest in sympathetic pain, the other falls to the handle of her sonic blaster.

"The key has already started," the Master says. "It was only waiting on the final element."

"Me," the Doctor replies. The Master pushes him away and watches as he falls to the ground. The Doctor stares at the knife in his side. River sees the blood and turns to watch the Master without expression, but he doesn't seem to remember she is even there.

"Of course, we needed a big event to start the final cascade," the Master explains, walking over the cables running from the crypt, and making gesturing around him with open arms. The sound begins with a gentle hum and the skitter of pebbles falling, as the ground begins to shake. The sky in the distance begins streaking with white flashes of lightening. A few seconds later, there is thunder. "What could be a bigger event than the Destroyer of Worlds' violent death and rebirth? After all, Time is always weakest around a regeneration. Even now the Time Lock is failing. Do you feel it, Doctor? That's Gallifrey returning! It feels like dying, doesn't it? Well, in your case, that's because it is. Soon, thousands of others will follow. The Time War will start again! I will lead all creation to destruction. I will end it all, Doctor, and you will see how much better it is that way!"

"Not if I end you first," River says and the Master turns to see her raise her blaster. With one shot, he collapses to the ground and doesn't move. Here then the camera provides evidence, murder in the first degree. On the horizon, the sky begins to bleed and history unwinds.

"Look," the Doctor says, pointing with a stained hand toward the horizon, "there's Gallifrey."

Everything goes black.

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

Thanks to Armity for all her help as a test subject and beta reader.

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

_Excerpt of:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part Six

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-28-5108/08.20.41

**Bishop Benedicta: **You murdered the Master.

**River Song: **Yes.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**RS:** He has a terrible habit of pissing off women with guns. Of course, he didn't have those memories. Still, common sense.

**BB**: Why didn't he just regenerate, like the Doctor?

**RS**: He couldn't. The Daleks made him imperfect. Maybe they didn't have the technology to make a proper Time Lord. Maybe they thought it would be a way to control him. I don't know.

**BB**: You knew this when you shot him?

**RS**: No.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB**: Then you weren't aware he would stay dead?

**RS**: No.

**BB**: Would you have done it if you knew?

**RS**: Probably not. I didn't mean to make the Doctor relive the Valiant. I am not intentionally cruel.

**BB**: There is a ten minute gap between visual file 4 and 5. What happened?

**RS**: Gallifrey was destroyed.

**BB**: Do you have any documentation of this?

**RS**: No.

**Servant Kai: **Verified.

**BB**: Why not?

**RS**: I destroyed all footage of it.

**BB**: Why?

**RS**: It was obscene.

**BB**: How much footage did you destroy in all?

**RS**: Everything not on that data crystal. I only saved what I thought the Doctor needed to see and hear, to understand why.

**BB**: To understand why you did it?

**RS**: No, to understand why he should stop me before I ever get the chance.

**BB**: Is that why you called for the Doctor a second time?

**RS**: I hoped he could fix it.

**BB**: Didn't he?

**RS**: Yes, but at too high of a cost.

**BB**: How did you contact him?

**RS:** I used the TARDIS. I knew she'd make sure he got the message. Poor girl must have been in agony with an End Event unfolding all around her. She wasn't terribly pleased with me. But she did it. I want to cry when I think of how we rewarded her.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Visual File 5

The world shudders. The bodies on the ground writhe and scream as if in terror. Even the corpses seem to seize in the dirt as the sky tears into bloody ribbons and the crypt twists the rock around it. The inside of the cavern is filled with sharp, white light that seems to fall and flow on the floor like water. The Doctor has somehow pulled himself to his feet at the console and has begun to dismantle the key. He pauses to hold up a hand covered in blood; it shimmers gold for a moment. He clenches it into a fist before returning to work with his screwdriver.

Over the shrieks and weeping of those victims still unfortunate enough to be alive, there is a wheezing sound that amplifies and coalesces with the appearance of not one but two blue police boxes behind the Doctor and the key. The doors open and from the left, River Song comes running out.

"Doctor!" she yells and rushes to his side. River wraps an arm around his shoulders to help him keep his feet while the earth quakes around them. Her hands are dried with blood and the hand print is already on her chest. Behind them two young men and a woman fall out of the right police box. The one in the tweed jacket and bow-tie seems to be the only quiet thing in the picture, not only in terms of sound but also presence. Everything around him seems to still as he takes in the scene. Meanwhile, his companions physically recoil from the sound and sight of it all.

"Oh my god," the young woman cries. "Doctor, what's happening?" She's not asking the dying man at the controls but the quiet creature beside her. Still, both turn to look at her.

"They shouldn't see this," the older Doctor tells himself.

"Rory, Amy, back in the TARDIS," the younger Doctor orders.

"But-," Amy objects.

"That's time and space tearing apart over our heads right now," their Doctor explains to them. He tries to herd them back inside the police box. "There's nothing you can do. You're safe in the TARDIS. Well, safer. Now, get!"

"End of the universe?" Amy says. "Been there. Done that. We're not going anywhere."

He huffs and gestures. "Rory, take Amy inside."

"Sorry, Doctor," Rory replies and he sounds genuinely contrite. His eyes are focused on the screaming and shaking bodies all around them. "There are people hurt out here. I'm a nurse. I have to help." He ducks around the Doctor and falls to his knees beside the nearest victims. Amy raises her eyebrows at their Doctor and pointedly follows Rory.

The Doctor opens his mouth but the next moment throws up his hands and gives up on them. He pulls out his own sonic screwdriver and joins River and his older self at the key.

"They only get worse," the dying Doctor says. "By the end, they don't even pretend to listen."

"Yeah?" The younger Doctor glances at River. "Spoilers." She cringes.

"I have an idea how we can fix this," her Doctor says. He pauses and it looks like what he's about to say is killing him. "We need a paradox machine."

* * *

_Entered into evidence:_

_Excerpt of:_

**Testimonial of River Song:**

Part Six

**Interviewer:** Bishop Benedicta

**Witness:** Servant Kai

**Time-Stamp:** 30-28-5108/08.25.16

**Bishop Benedicta:** What is a paradox machine?

**River Song: **It is a tortured TARDIS.

**BB:** Can you be more specific?

**RS:** No.

**BB:** What does it do?

**RS:** It cradles a paradox.

**BB:** How does it work?

**RS:** I can't tell you that.

**BB:** Because you don't know or because you won't tell us?

**RS:** Yes.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

**BB: **River Song, you're not cooperating.

**RS**: I don't know how it works. And you should thank God that only one man alive does.

**Servant Kai:** Verified.

* * *

**From: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

**To: ** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

The paradox machine is the single greatest threat to the Empire and all of creation we have yet come across. The fact that River Song refuses to explain how it works is unacceptable. Right now, there is a paradox machine holding life as we know it together. The Time Agency is doing its best to protect this weak link, but no one is safe until we understand it.

* * *

**From: ** Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**Message Content:**

How can River Song explain that which she doesn't understand? Perhaps she is right and we are all safer not understanding. Knowledge is a prerequisite of all sin.

* * *

**From: ** Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

**To: ** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Message Content:**

If the Time Agency believes it cannot adequately defend the paradox machine, the Shadow Proclamation will provide additional security. As you say, overseer, it is a matter of universal priority.

* * *

**From:** Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**To:** Overseer Gamma, _The Time Agency_

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

**Message Content:**

Is the TARDIS alive? Does that mean it is still suffering?

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Burnings Way Data Crystal:**

Visual File 6

Another ten minutes has passed according to the time stamp on the recording. The dying Doctor is no longer present in frame. The door to the TARDIS on the left is gaping open and many of the cables running from the crypt have been redirected inside. Amy runs out the door, stumbling over the cables and the shaking ground, to where the younger Doctor and River Song are taking the key apart and refashioning it to a new purpose. They aren't looking at each other.

"Doctor," Amy says and the Doctor doesn't even glance up from the wires in his hands. He holds the sonic screwdriver in his mouth. River Song intently follows the readings on the console just inches from his side. "You said to tell you that you're about ready in there if you're ready out here. You also said that you linked the TARDIS controls into the key so you can activate them together. Wow," she crosses her arms, "_that's _not confusing." Amy pauses for a response but gets none. She glances over what they're doing, flicks her eyes toward where Rory is still busy trying to calm the screaming and shaking Hellades staff, before clearing her throat pointedly. "Do you have a message for yourself?"

The Doctor takes the sonic screwdriver out of his mouth and whirls it over the wires in his hands. He sticks the wires back inside the console. "Right," he says, pulling the covering back over the wires without securing it. "Amy, tell other me that we're ready." She nods and moves to leave, but River grabs Amy's arm to still her. "Rory!" the Doctor yells to be heard by the other young man. Rory glances up but is having a difficult time holding one unconscious, young woman's hands away from her face as she tries to claw at her eyes. "Get ready to run! Those people are going to start waking up soon and they're not going to be happy!" Rory nods.

"How does he look?" River asks Amy in so quiet of a voice that it's almost lost to the recorder. The Doctor beside her glances at her sidelong while she's not looking but his hands don't pause as they enter commands into the machine.

Amy moves her weight from foot to foot. "Bad." She can't meet River's eyes. "Really, really bad. I should-." River lets her go and Amy runs back into the open TARDIS, throwing a look back over her shoulder only once.

"River," the Doctor calls and she whips her attention back to him. He gestures toward her side of the console. "See that flashy red light sort of," he seems to search for a word and gives up in his distraction, "_thing_?"

She moves over and hovers a hand above the controls. "This one?"

"Yeah. That's the one. When I tell you, press it. That's incredibly important. Everything might rely on it. Of course, we all could still go _boom _any moment but it won't be for lack of _trying_!"

"Is this actually an important control for me to press, or are you just saying that to distract me from something else?" River asks.

The Doctor opens his mouth but waits too long to decide on an answer. He suddenly smiles. "Yes."

"I hate it when you do that."

"I know."

Amy leans outside the TARDIS doorway. "Doctor, we're ready!"

"And we're off!" the Doctor announces, zapping the controls with his screwdriver, which causes them all to turn red and flash.

"Doctor," River says, "what _exactly _is this going to do?"

"It's going to divert Time energy from the TARDIS into the End Event. That will free those people from the machine's hold. Then they _should _wake up. And the rest of us run because if I don't fancy surviving an End Event to be strangled to death by a mad cook."

"Okay." River nods. "I get that. How is the paradox machine supposed to close the End Event?"

The Doctor frowns and looks annoyed. "It's not."

"But-."

"The End Event is a paradox, River," he says and she swallows as his voice takes on a sharp edge. "Think about it. _Really _think about it. Right now, Gallifrey both exists and doesn't exist. It _exists _because I'm here and because other me's here and the Master's died here. It _doesn't_ exist because I locked it away in Time. It _exists _because the Master and you unlocked it. It _doesn't_ exist because it's been destroyed. Time is like an elastic. You can pull on it and twist it into other shapes but pull or twist it too far too many times and it'll lose its shape altogether. _Or_, even better, break."

"There's something you're not telling me," River replies slowly.

The Doctor pauses and looks at her. There's something in his expression, some emotional hesitancy alongside profound sadness. "Yeah."

Amy appears and stumbles out of the TARDIS door, with the other Doctor's arm wrapped around her shoulders. His face is almost gray but every few moments shimmers gold. River moves to help but the younger Doctor grabs her wrist.

"Stay with the controls," he says.

"I have to help," she insists.

"Haven't you already done enough?" the Doctor snaps back and she flinches. The way he presses his lips into a thin line and how his eyes flicker over her face seems to suggest he regrets it immediately, but he doesn't take the words back.

"I'd rather die than see you hurt, Doctor," River says and he looks stricken. "Please," she chokes on the emotion behind the word. "Please, believe that."

It appears that he squeezes her wrist, though there's no way of telling from the recording whether that's purposeful or reflexive. "I do," he tells her and dashes over to Amy and the other Doctor. River hesitates before turning back to the console. Between the younger Doctor and Amy, they half-carry the dying Doctor past the key, over the cables and toward the glowing white maw of the crypt.

"Rory!" the younger Doctor calls and the man looks up.

"Just another second, Doctor!" Rory says.

"We don't have one. You're going to get hurt if you stay there!"

"But-"

"Oi!" Amy yells at him. "You heard the Doctor! Don't be an idiot. You can't help them, Rory, if they kill you first."

"Right. You're . . . right about that." Rory stumbles to his feet, struggling to avoid the blindly outstretched arms of those around him while the ground shakes. He hurries to relative safety behind the controls.

"Amy, join River. I can take it from here," the Doctor says and Amy nods, helping to transfer the older Doctor's weight to the younger before running back to the key.

"River, do you remember that red flashy light I told you to press?" the younger Doctor asks as he helps his other self to the edge of the light streaming from the crypt.

Rory grabs onto the console to keep his feet and his eyes widen at the controls. "They're all red and flashy!"

"Yes," River replies to the Doctor. "But what do you think you're doing with him?"

"Remember when I tell you-"

"Press it, I know!" she snaps back. "But I'm not pressing anything until one of you tells me why he hasn't regenerated yet."

The younger Doctor opens his mouth to reply.

"River," the older Doctor says. "You heard the Master." Both the Doctors' eyes have so studiously avoided looking down in front of the key to where the Master's body lies that it can't be accidental. "Time is weakest around a regeneration. I've been able to hold it off this long but I can't much longer. When I regenerate, the last thread holding the Time Lock together will break and the End Event will spread. I can't regenerate."

"You can't die!" River yells back.

"Hush," the Doctor tries to calm her. "You're right. I can't. So. There's no other choice." He glances at himself and there is some understanding that passes between them. The younger Doctor nods and steps back. Somehow, despite his obvious weakness and the roiling of the ground around him, the older Doctor seems to keep his feet from the force of sheer will alone.

"What do you mean no other choice?" River demands. For a moment it looks like she's going to leave her post at the console but then she looks down at the light the Doctor told her she had to press and stays. "What are you going to do?"

"It's all right, River," her Doctor tells her. "I know you never meant for this to happen. I understand. I do. I've done terrible things for the greater good too. You tried to fix that for me. Let me fix this for you."

"You're going to join the paradox," she says in a dead voice. "You'll be stuck between life and death. Forever. Always dying."

"I know," the Doctor says. "It's not so bad really. Before the Time War, Gallifrey added the memories of dead Time Lords to a machine called the Matrix. None of us really died that way. I always expected some version of me to end up there in the end. It's no different than that. See? Not so bad." He begins to shimmer gold again. He closes his eyes and only opens them after the long moment has passed. "And not much longer now."

"You want me to do that to you."

"I'd never force you to but, _River_, it has to be done."

During their conversation, the younger Doctor cautiously moved from lingering near the mouth of the crypt to the side of the key. "River," he says and she startles, so focused on the other Doctor that she didn't noticed this one's approach. He reaches out and wraps his fingers loosely around her wrist. Her hand hovers over the particular light on the console set to redirect the key and start the paradox machine.

"I'm not trying to punish you," the older Doctor tells her, "I'm offering you a chance to help fix your mistake."

"You want me to kill you," she says. "The best man I've ever known."

"No," he replies. "You always sacrifice yourself for me. I'm asking you to let me do this for you."

"How will I ever look at you again?" River asks.

Despite the pain and the exhaustion, the shaking ground, the screaming men and women caught in their worst nightmares, the sky an open wound over his head, the crypt shining an unnatural stark white at his back, and the full knowledge of what he's asking, the Doctor grins. "With a smile," he says and steps back, to be consumed by the light.

River Song only hesitates a second. She sets the key and activates the paradox machine with the Doctor's fingers still around her wrist.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

_Visual Footage from the Lost Base Archives_

**Final Allocution of River Song**

**Witnessed by**:

Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta, _The Shadow Proclamation_

Patriarch Thaddeus, _Our Church of Supreme Authority_

Doctor Holaday, _The Great Guild_

**Time Stamp:** 63-01-5108/06.30.32

The room is provided by the Shadow Proclamation and is a common example of their architecture, white chamber with high ceilings and blue and white lighting from crystal wall hangings. At the front of the room are four chairs made of metal and sitting in those chairs are the judges. Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta is a stark figure in the middle in a black dress and with the albino coloring of most servants in the Shadow Proclamation. To her right is Patriarch Thaddeus in his blue dress uniform, various medals and gold chord on his chest and shoulders denoting his numerous commendations. Servant Dmer Kotte-ta and Patriarch Thaddeus make a very intimidating but elegant chiaroscuro center of authority, his dark features to her light. He appears to be the oldest there, his hair short and steel grey. To his right is Doctor Holaday, a small woman with a stern expression on a face with many smile lines. She wears the dark green ceremonial gown of the chief professors of the Great Guild. To Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta's left is an empty seat where Overseer Gamma was meant to sit. In an attached document, the reason for his absence is listed as another Top Time Secret.

Before them all, in handcuffs and gray prison uniform, stands River Song.

"Doctor Song," Servant Dmer Kotte-Ta speaks, "do you have anything to say to the court before we close this case and put the tragic occasion of the Hellades Incident behind us?"

"I do."

"Then please, speak."

"I do not apologize for my actions," River Song says. Doctor Holaday scoffs and sits up in her seat. "Because an apology is a question of forgiveness. I deserve no forgiveness. I am genuinely sorry for all the hurt I caused on 82-29-5107. That changes nothing. Despite appearances, in my heart, I am an archeologist. Our trade is founded in death and destruction. I took that too literally. In the end, it's also supposed to be about life. I took that for granted. The Great Guild paid the price. Doctor Holaday, you are right to hate me. Carry on."

Doctor Holaday sits back in her chair and watches River Song from the corner of her eyes. A new line appears between her eyebrows. She frowns.

"Patriarch Thaddeus," River Song continues, "your people have been very kind to me. For various reasons. I don't deserve it. I assure you, though the Hellades Incident did not go as I expected, many of my worst crimes I did with full knowledge of the cost and its evil. That is the definition of sin. I am guilty of every crime I am accused and more. I am no devil, but don't make me a saint."

Patriarch Thaddeus only nods once.

River suddenly smiles. "If Overseer Gamma were here, I would tell him, 'I told you so'. But I guess he already knows. Or soon will.

"And Servant Dmer Katte-Ta." River Song sighs. "Even I didn't see this coming. As you are the representative and police of all intergalactic law and bodies - a bit of presumption even the Empire doesn't aspire to- I am guilty of the most heinous crimes against you. All I ask, is that you remember who saved you. Your people have made the mistake of relegating the Time Lords to legend. The Doctor is more than a legend. He is a real person, with all the pain and love that comes with that. He deserves to be remembered that way."

Servant Dmer Katte-Ta blinks several times but when the silence extends beyond a few seconds, she agrees.

"Is that all?" she asks.

River nods.

"Then as architect of this combined court, I accept your guilty plea to all charges. According to your plea-bargain, you will spend the rest of your life in the Stormcage Containment Facility for your crimes. All your medals and commendations granted to you by the Empire for services rendered are withdrawn. Your title as honorary Servant and your special privileges within the Shadow Proclamation are voided. You are expelled from the Great Guild and are outlawed from taking part in any future official historical endeavors. According to the powers granted to the Time Agency, you are banned from time travel for life. Do you understand?"

River Song does not reply. Instead, she stares off into the middle-distance, almost in a trance.

"Doctor Song, please acknowledge the ruling of the court."

River sighs and shakes her head. Suddenly, she laughs.

"What is so funny?" Doctor Holaday demands.

"I just remembered something," River Song says.

"Wait." Patriarch Thaddeus raises a hand to his forehead. "What's happening?"

Servant Dmer Katte-Ta blinks rapidly. "Who is that? I remember - but - no, it happened. But it didn't."

"But that's not true," Doctor Holaday says. "That's not how it happened. I can still remember that's not what happened. It's not true!"

"Time can be rewritten," River Song replies. "So can truth."

Doctor Holaday rises to her feet but doesn't seem to know where to go. "It happened!" she says again. "It happened, no matter what is happening right now to our memories. I remember what you did on Hellades!"

"And you remember what happened now," River tells her. "Just like I do."

"You're still guilty!" Doctor Holaday insists.

"Yes," River Song agrees with the ghost of a smile. "I am."

* * *

TBC

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who belongs to various persons and corporations that are not me or associated with me. This piece of fanfiction is written with the admiration and respect for the original work. I claim no ownership of Doctor Who's creations. No profit is made from this material, now or in the future.

A/N: Thank you to all the readers who have stuck with me through this story while it was a WIP. Your feedback has been so much help. I really appreciate it!

Thanks to Armity for serving as sounding board and beta reader.

* * *

_Entered into Evidence:_

**Testimonial from:** Father Cody Rames

**Interviewer:** Servant Kai

**Witness:** Agent 2401

**Time Stamp:** 99-7-5108/12.32.09

**Security Level:** TOP TIME SECRET

**Servant Kai:** Place your hand on the verifier. Understand that if you remove your hand at any point during this interview, you may be held in contempt of court. Do you understand?

**Father Cody Rames:** Yes, sir.

**SK:** Please, state your full name and rank.

**FCR: **I am Father Cody Rames of the Fifth Arm of Our Church of Supreme Authority, Historical Defense Division.

**Agent 2401:** Verified.

**SK: **Do you know Doctor River Song, Father?

**FCR**: Yes, sir. I was assigned to one of her digs. Well, I mean my unit was assigned, sir. We were supposed to make sure the site remained secure at all times. Whatever was being dug up was supposed to be real important to the empire, but it involved destroying a huge part of a colony city and, well, you know how the colonies are. We needed to make sure to keep all the guild members safe so that they could do their jobs. Especially Doctor Melian and Doctor Song, since they were in charge of it all.

**SK:** Were you able to keep the site secure?

**FCR: **Completely, sir. My bishop was, uh, I mean _is_ one of the best. I don't mean to be prideful, but he is.

**SK**: Can you tell me what happened on Hellades?

**FCR**: Um, well, forgive me, sir, but my memory is a little weird about the whole thing.

**SK**: What do you mean?

**FCR**: I don't know. It's just weird. It hurts to think about it. Gives me a head ache. I try not to.

**SK**: We need you to think about it. What happened on Hellades?

**FCR**: Well, you see, everything was fine in the beginning. In fact, it was kind of boring. Me and the rest of the priests were getting a bit antsy even. The colonists weren't too much trouble for us, the Bishop was -_is_, sorry- too good for them. We cut off any trouble before it even happened, so-.

**SK**: Please focus on the last days before the explosion.

**FCR**: Oh. Well, it started like this, sir. All the guild members were excited. They were breaking out some Earth wine and everything. It was a real big deal, even we could see that. The bishop explained to us that they had gotten to the center of the crypt. They'd found a big stone box there. Apparently, that's what they had been looking for all along. I told Father Kenneth that I thought it was silly that we all had been waiting so long for a big stone box. The Bishop heard me, of course. It was - is!- hard to get anything by the Bishop. Anyways, as he explained it, there was something in the box, some old technology, a weapon left over from the greatest war ever fought. I asked what it was? And -

**SK**: What happened after that?

**FCR: **Right. After that, there was this man.

**Agent 2401: **Verified.

**SK:** Can you describe him?

**FCR:** It's hard. He was different. He walked like he owned the place. He just suddenly appeared the night of the discovery. He looked mostly human, though there was something about his eyes.

**SK: **Can you describe it?

**FCR:** I mean no offense, sirs, but he reminded me of a Time Agent.

**SK:** How did River Song interact with this man?

**FCR**: Oh, they were great friends. The day of the explosion, she threw her arms around him and cried. He just held her. I know Doctor Song isn't really one for big emotional displays, but we were all feeling a bit emotional about our near escape. There was a lot of hugging going around. But even before that, they were obviously close. Whenever I saw them, they were always whispering together and going off on their own. We all joked about it, of course, but that's just because that's how clerics are and we were bored and we didn't know who he was. Normally, we might've been suspicious but she was a good woman and she trusted him. I guess that's why so many of us were willing to just accept him at first. We barely knew anything about River Song but we knew she was important, we knew she had connections. We knew even less about this man but he was connected to River Song so that didn't seem as weird as it might otherwise. We just assumed he was a Top Time Secret.

**SK:** In your initial statement, you say that you overheard River Song call him by a name.

**FCR: **Yeah, though it wasn't really specific. The way she said it, with this sort of twinkle in her eye, I'm not even sure it was his real name.

**Agent 2401:** What did River Song call him?

**FCR:** Jack, sir.

**Agent 2401:** Verified.

* * *

FIN

* * *

If you enjoyed the piece, or if you didn't, please take the time to leave me a review. No matter how short, I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks.


End file.
